Reinforced metal wool pad



Dem 14, 1954 R. F. SEELENBINDER 2,696,629

REINFORCED METAL WOOLI PAD Filed July l5, 1948 h nih.

SMM/1 United States Patent Oiiice 2,696,629 Pa'ented Dec. 14, 1954 2,696,629 REINFORCED METAL WOOL PAD Robert F. Seelenbinder, Springfield; Ohio, assignor to International Steel Wool Corporation, Springfield, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio for use on power operated. equipment, andi more particularly to metal wool pads for .such purposes, having substantially identical characteristics throughout. their en tire area.

Steel and other types of vmetal wool have. many applications in household and industrial cleaning. One. of its uses is in power driven machinery' for heavyduty work, for example, in portable floor cleaners. These devices operate by pressing against the. oor a. metal Wool pad and rotating they pad at high speed to accomplish by its abrasive action a scouring of the floor surace.

The pads used in connection with these machines are, for greater firmness and long. life, made of. strips. of metal wool spirally wound or otherwise foldedv to the. desired shape and size. For ease of' handling and to prevent uncoiling during use, the; several foldsA of the pad are interconnected. The interconnecting devices heretofore used have been transverse wires, wire stitching, welding and like relatively rigid and. unyielding. means. Disadvantages in assembly and expense have attended such use. In addition, pads' so constructed have .a relatively short useful life, since a pad must be.

replaced when it becomes wornto the point that. the.v

interconnecting means become vworn or exposed. An exposed wire or weld is damaging to the' floor surface, and moreover should such connecting means break from contlact with the work, rapid disintegration of thel pad resu ts.

Thus, the object of the inventionis' to simplify' the construction as well asA the means and mode ofl operation. of metal wool pads, whereby such pads may not onlyy be economically manufactured, but will be more ecient in use, of longer life, and give more uniform and. satisfactory results.

A further object of the present invention is to increase' the useful life of metal wool' pads of the Ikind described and to reduce the cost and diticult'ies of manufacture thereof.

Another object of the invention is to present al novel method of fabricating metal wool cleaning pads.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to obviate the 'disadvantages' inherent inl a vvire',lrod` o'r weld .reinforced p'ad by eliminating suclr connecting means.

Still another object is to form a simple and effective tie between the folds of a metal' wool pad according to a mlethodl utilizing the cohesive properties of the metal' woo A further object of the invention is toprovidea. meta-1': wool pad possessing the advantageous structural' features, the'inherent meritorious characteristics' and' the method of fabrication herein described;

With the above primary and other incidental objects in view as will more fully appear in thefspecication', the invention intended t'o be protected by Letters: Patent consists of the featufes of construction', the parts and combinations thereof, and the mode of operation, as hereinafter described or illustrated in" thev accompanying drawings, or their equivalents.`

lReferring .to the accompanying drawing, wherein is shown thefpreferred` but obviously notthel only'lernbodiment ofthe invention?, l l n Fig. l is a view .in perspe'ctive.y of anrietail wool cleariing pad marde in accordance with the present invention;

l Fig. 2is a'- view of the pad of Fig. 1 in cross-section, showing the interconnecting metal wool`v strands; and

Fig. 3. is a view of a partly assembled pad, showingl a method of inserting the transverse strands therein.

Fig. 4 shows the twisted relation. of the filaments. coni.- prising the metal'` wool strip, somewhat exaggerated for clarity, and a modified form of interconnection between theadjacent contacting layers of the strip.

Like parts are indicated. by similar characters of reference. throughout the several views. j

According to the instant. invention, there is substituted for the wire, rod or welded tie members of the. prior art, interconnecting strands made of the same material as the pad. itself.` The. strands are introduced into. the. folds of the pad as disconnected transverse threads, and, being of they samematerial as the.pad intermes'h there.`-A with so as. to resist separation of the.l folds and withdrawal of the strands.- j

Evident advantages flow from such a construction. The interconnecting strands. become in. effect an integral part of the pad andv present no obstacle to a full use; of the whole. of the pad. Parting of a strand, as a resultA 0f wear, has but. a localized effect andv by the. time. complete disintegrationV of the. connectors. takes place they remainder of the pad is` so` thoroughly matted that. l

separation thereof into vits original folds is impossible.

Cleaning pads of the kind to which. this invention relates usuallyl are made by coiling a continuousI strip oi metal wool libre upon itself.l As shown in the. draw-v ings, the instant invention is disclosed in. connection with. a pad so formed. As will be clearY from the following. description, however, the invention is not, so. limited but is applicable to .pads otherwise folded and. to those made. up of a plurality of disconnected. strips. n.

Referring to Fig. 1, the illustrated .embodiment of. the invention comprises a coiled strip 10 of steel. or other metal. wool fibre. The strip is made, Aaccording to conventional practice, of numerous filaments. or rovings arranged generally parallel to one another and., loosely ent-wined or mattedv together to2 form an elongated continuous strip4 of the desired width and4 thickness.

Thestrip 10 is coiled upon itself in a single plane and as so spirally wound presents a disc-like appearance with adjacent convolutions or layers in `contact with one another. One of the flat sides of the pad so formed. becomes the working surface'. The pad is so mounted or arranged inv relation withy the machine askto present such surfacefto the work, the pad being held in the: machine by gripping devices or other means not pertinent. to this disclosure.

As shown in Fig. 2, the pad includes, in addition to` the strip 10, two transverse connecting strands 1v1 and 12. The strands 11 and 12 are made. of filaments. of steel or other metal wool like that used in formingthe strip.- 1.0y and. extend radially 'throughl all the successive folds of the coiled strip at right angles tothe. of the` pad. The filaments making up the; strand'sll and 1-2? are; looselyf entwined or matted together, like thosev of the stripv 10.A

The respective filaments of the strands and strip bei-ng at right angles to one: another and in intimate` contacting relation, intermeshin'gand entanglement occurs: effectivel to resist uncoiling of the strip and withdrawal of thestrands. The number, placement and size of the interconnecting strands may vary withV the sizeof thev pad but in most instances two strands placed at right angles to one. an,- other and proportioned as to size as roughly indicated in the drawing provide a satisfactory connecting means;

'The strands 11 and 12 are inserted into the' pad. following' forming and coiling of the strip 10., Onemanner of effecting such introductionzis'shown in Fig. 3, wherein a. needle. 13 is illustratedas drawing, a; strand 12l through thepad; According; to this method, a needle of suitable size, having threaded therein one end of a strand ofthe steel or other metal wool, is inserted intothe peripheral edge or outer fold of the padpassed,through intervening folds and; out at apoint. diametrically oppositel itsplace of entry. The strand of metal woolis .then Y.pulled,transfversely throughrthe pad, and, when.projectingportions appear, such portions are trimmed adjacent the peripheral edge of the pad. A contained connector strand thereby remains embedded in the pad as indicated in Fig. 2. In the insertion of two strands as shown, which preferably intersect adjacent the center of the pad, two such stitches as described are taken, the second about ninety degrees distant from the first.

The loosely matted wool of the strip does not offer material resistance to passage of the needle 13 therethrough, but such work is aided, particularly that part of the stroke during which the strand is drawn through the folds of the strip, if the needle is power driven.

In connection with the threading of the strands through the coiled strip 10, it will be understood that the path of the strands may be irregular or sinuous rather than straight. The cohesive properties of the metal wool, however, will ordinarily make such modification unnecessary.

During formation of the metal wool strip 10 by gathering together the individual filaments, the strip is twisted thereby placing the individual filaments in a helical position throughout the area of the strip. Such twist (slightly exaggerated in Fig. 4 for clarity) is produced prior to the coiling of the strip 10 into the finished pad. The twist which is imparted to the filaments comprising the strip 10 provides a diagonal stroke at all times to the surface being treated, since as the pad revolves the individual filaments of metal wool are disposed in diagonal relation to the path of movement rather than being tangential thereto. Such diagonal motion has proved to be quite advantageous in producing a more efiicient pad of longer life.

There is also shown in Fig. 4 a slightly modified construction in which the connecting strand 12a is substituted for the former strand 12. The only difference in the two forms of pad is that the strand 12a of Fig. 4 constitutes a continuation of the strip 10 rather than a separate strand 12 as shown in Figs. l to 3, inclusive. The strand 12a is threaded through the convolutions of the pad in the same manner as is the strand 12, the end of the strip 10 being inserted in the needle 13 or other threading instrument. The strand 11 is the same as that used in the form shown in Figs. l to 3, inclusive.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is thus provided a device of the character described possessing the particular features of advantage before enumerated as desirable, but which obviously is susceptible of modification in its form, proportions, detail construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the principle involved or sacrificing any of its advantages.

While in order to comply with the statute the invention has been described in language more or less specific I as to structural features, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific features shown, but that the means and construction herein disclosed comprise the preferred form of several modes of putting the invention into effect, and the invention is therefore claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the legitimate and valid scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A pad for fioor cleaning and the like, including a strip of metal wool fibre arranged in a coil with adjacent layers thereof in contacting relation, and strands of similar metal wool fibre extending transversely through said layers and at right angles to each other, said strands intersecting one another at approximately the middle of the pad and the outer ends of the strands terminating adjacent the peripheral edge of the pad.

2. A metal wool pad including multiple layers of metal wool, each layer comprising a plurality of individual filaments arranged in substantially parallel helical relation, the multiple layers of metal wool being arranged in adjacent contacting relation with each other, and means interconnecting the adjacent layers of metal wool into an integral substantially homogeneous mass including strand means of like metal wool extending transversely of the layers, the individual filaments of which are intertangled with the filaments of the layers.

3. A metal wool pad, including a strip of metal wool fibre arranged in a coil with adjacent layers thereof in contacting relation, and a connector strand of similar metal wool fibre extending transversely through said layers, said coil and connector strand producing a substantially homogeneous pad having identical characteristics throughout its entire area.

4. A pad including a strip of metal wool comprising a plurality of helically twisted metal wool fibres arranged in a coil, and a strand of metal wool fibre comprising an end of the metal wool strip extending transversely through the coils and intermeshing therewith to resist uncoiling of the pad.

5. As an article of manufacture, a pad, including continuous strips of metal wool fibre arranged in folds, adjacent folds of which are in contact with one another, and strand means of a material which is the same as that of said strip extending transversely through said folds, the filaments of said strip and said strand means entangling to resist unfolding of the pad.

6. A metal wool pad, comprising a continuous strip of metal Wool fibre arranged in folds, adjacent folds of which are in contact with one another, and one or more strands of metal wool fibre extending transversely through said folds and resisting change ot' shape of the pad by entanglement with the material of said folds, said strip and said strands producing a substantially homogeneous pad having identical characteristics throughout its area.

7. A pad according to claim 6, characterized by a plurality of said transverse strands unconnected to each other and having their opposite ends terminating adjacent the peripheral edge of the pad.

8. 'lhe herein described method of making a metal wool pad, comprising the steps of forming a continuous strip of metal wool fibre from a plurality of individual rovings arranged in substantially parallel relation, folding said strip upon itself to a desired shape with adjacent layers in contact with one another, and passing transversely through said layers one or more strands of metal wool.

9. The herein described method of making a metal wool pad, comprising the steps of forming a continuous strip of metal wool fibre, folding said strip upon itself to a desired shape with adjacent layers in contact with one another, threading transversely through the layers of said strip one or more strands of similar metal wool fibre, the strands entangling with said strip to resist unfolding of the pad, and trimming projecting ends of the strands adjacent the pehipheral edge of the pad.

l0. A metal wool pad, including multiple layers of metal wool fibre, adjacent layers of which are in contact with one another, and interconnecting strand means of metal wool fibres extending transversely through said layers, separation of said layers and withdrawal of said strand means being resisted by entanglement and cohesion of the respective metal wool filaments.

1l. A metal wool pad including multiple contacting layers of metal wool comprising a plurality of individual filaments arranged in substantially parallel relation, and metal wool strand means extending transversely thereof in entangled relation with the filaments of the layers, the entangled relation of the strand means and layers preventing separation of the layers one from another.

l2. The herein described method of manufacturing a metal wool pad, including the steps of arranging a plurality of individual filaments of metal to form a strip of metal wool, arranging said strip of metal wool in adjacent contacting layers, forming an additional plurality of individual filaments of metal into a strand of metal wool, and interconnecting the adjacent contacting layers of metal wool by entangling the metal wool strand therewith in transversely disposed relation thereto.

13. A metal wool pad including a plurality of individual metal wool filaments loosely arranged in a helical formation to produce a metal wool strip coiled upon itself with adjacent layers thereon in contacting relation and transverse tie members of similar material extending through the contacting convolutions of the pad, at least one of said tie members comprising the end portion of the metal wool strip.

14. A metal wool pad, including a strip of metal wool fibre arranged in a coil with adjacent layers thereof in contacting relation, and a transverse tie member passing through the adjacent layers thereof to hold the coil in assembled relation, said tie member comprising the end of the metal wool strip from which the coil is formed.

l5. A metal wool pad including a strip of -twisted metal wool fibre arranged in a coil with adjacent lavers thereof in contacting relation, and tie members of similar material passing transversely through the contacting layers thereof, the construction and arrangement being such that the strip of twisted metal wool fibre at all times presents a working surface disposed in angular relation to its direction of motion.

(References on following page) References Cited in the le of this patent Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Weatherhead Sept. 1, 1908 5 Lilley May 15, 1917 Robbins July 19, 1927 Gottschalk Aug. 9, 1927 Kingman Feb. 21, 1928 Oliver May 1, 1928 10 Number Number Name Date Stoker Mar. 19, 1935 Bailey June 29, 1937 Martin July 12, 1938 Levine et a1 Sept. 12, 1939 Seelenbinder Mar. 5, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Oct. 1896 

